A mural has been painted in Dundee in honour of UFC star Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett. The cage-fighter made an impassioned speech on Saturday night after a close friend committed suicide just hours before the bout.
The Liverpool fighter spoke in the cage after defeating American Jordan Leavitt at London’s O2 arena.
He urged men to speak to one another if they were feeling down.
He said he’d much rather ‘have a mate cry on my shoulder than go to his funeral next week.’
The speech has since gone viral on social media across the world and has been praised from all quarters.
Following the emotional moment, Dundee artist Symon Mathieson painted a mural in a tunnel at Monymusk Park in Dundee.
A photo of the stunning black and white artwork was shared by Paddy who wrote ‘Getting sent this gave me goosebumps.’
The fighter’s Instagram post has since been liked nearly 204,000 times.
Symon, who is also known as Syke, created the artwork after being approached by local support group Andy’s Man Club.
Writing on Facebook, he said: “Big ups to Paddy Pimblett for using his platform to raise awareness.”
In his speech, Paddy said: “I woke up on Friday morning at 4am to a message that one my friends back home had killed themselves.
"This was five hours before my weigh-in.
“So Ricky lad, that’s for you. There’s a stigma in this world that men can’t talk.
“Listen, if you’re a man and you’ve got weight on your shoulders and you think the only way you can solve it is by killing yourself, please speak to someone.”
And fighting back tears with UFC commentator and hall-of-famer Michael Bisping next to him, he added:
“Speak to anyone. I know I would rather have my mate cry on my shoulder than go to his funeral next week. So please, let’s get rid of this stigma. Men start talking.”
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